Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the decorative shaping of food products and, more particularly, to a composite cheese product having an inner decorative form, variegated in color from the outer form of the product, which extends continuously through the product so that slices cut from the product will each bear the inner decorative form.
Heretofore, it has been known to form various types of decorative cheese products to enhance the aesthetic appeal of the product. For example, it is well known to mix cheese products of variegated colors to achieve a calico type appearance.
In addition, it is known to stamp or print a design on the surface of a cheese product. Although initially pleasing in appearance, once sliced, the cheese product does not bear the decorative design in successive slices.
Natural cheese comes from manufacturers in various standard sizes and shapes. As an example, a cylinder of cheese having a 6 inch diameter, 13 inches long and weighing approximately 13 lbs. is commonly referred to in the industry as a "longhorn" of cheese. While a cheese product may be custom formed so as to have a shape which when sliced exhibits the desired decorative shape in each slice, it has not heretofore been possible to custom shape the cheese product from a standard shape such as a "longhorn" without incurring substantial costs, labor and wastage of cheese.
The following patents disclose various methods for forming designs in food products:
U. S. Pat. No. 545,294 to Hunter discloses a method and apparatus for forming colored designs extending continuously from end to end through blocks of ice cream. The method requires successively adding variegated layers of ice cream within a mold and scraping each layer with a suitably contoured template. The method is laborious and results in a substantial amount of unused excess food product.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,429,409 to Carter et al. disclose further method for manufacturing ice cream bricks having variegated designs extending from end to end therethrough. The method disclosed therein involves the use of a punch or die having a cavity within which a core having the decorative contour is removed from the brick. The method discloses the use of a centering template, which may be placed directly on the surface of the brick, for centering and guiding the path of the punch. No mechanism is, however, disclosed for removing the core from the punch with its decorative shape intact. Rather, the cavity within the brick is apparently filled with a food product filler which is in a plasticized state and then subjected to further low temperatures to freeze the final product.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,060,494 to Noble discloses a T-bone food mold which includes an outer mold element configured to the exterior shape of a T-bone steak, and a bone material mold that is adapted to pivot at the top of the outer mold element, as shown in FIG. 1 thereof. A supplemental T-bone form is placed within the main outer mold element while a steak simulating material is packed around the supplemental mold within the exterior mold. The mold is also filled with a bone colored material that can be different in appearance from the steak colored material. The entire mold is placed on a grill or hot plate and cooked, after which the supplemental T-bone form is removed and the main T-bone mold is pivoted into position within the outside mold element to produce the simulated T-bone steak.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,937,095 to Zitin discloses a cylindrical casing that is packed with meat around a centrally located stud that is shaped in a particular form, such as a star. Once the meat is formed and cooked within the casing, the stud is removed to leave a cavity in the shape of the stud. The central cavity is then filled with molten cheese which is allowed to cure to produce a composite food product having an exterior meat casing and an interior cheese core. As with the subject invention, each layer that is sliced from the composite food product includes the desired central shape throughout.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,874,649 to Pelletier discloses a process for producing candy having an inset design extending along its length. The candy core is molded to have an enlargement of the desired inset design and surrounded with a candy matrix which is conformed to a cylindrical form. The cylindrical composite is then elongated by rolling in alternate directions to reduce the design cross section to the desired size.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,053,238 to Dulany, discloses cutting of a solid or cored cylinder of pineapple into a star shape which may be sliced transversely to bear the star shape in each slice.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,855,145 to Jones discloses an article of food adapted to be eaten endwise which comprises a plurality of component sections of different materials arranged lengthwise such that the proportion of one material varies progressively along the length.
U.S. Pat. No 3,582,353 to Fehr, Jr. et al.discloses a method of preparing a food product with localized areas of coloring or flavoring by mixing dough ingredients with particles of hard shortening material having flavoring or coloring material incorporated therein.